Chest for silverware



Juiy 4, 1933 J L, NAKEN 1 1,916,984

CHE S T FOR S ILVERWARE Filed March 5, 1952 Patented July 4, 1933 mm: 1.. NAKEN, or cnrcaeo, rumors cnnsr ron srnvmtwnnn Application filed March 3, 1932. Serial No. 596,446.

A practice that is rapidly spreadin is that of storing the silver knives, forks an spoons of the household in substantially air-tight chests or cases, preferably lined with a material carrying an anti-tarnish compound. By housing the silverware in this manner, instead of in drawers, much less polishing is required in order to keep the silverware bright. There are usually various kinds of knives in the assortment owned by any given housewife; some knives being short and others long; some knives havin thick handles and others having thin or slbnder handles; and some knives havin long handles and short blades whereas ot er knives have the usual long blades and short handles. It is desirable that the knives be so positioned in the chest or case that they are exposed to view when the lid or cover is opened and may be quickly placed in position or removed. The best location for the knives is on the inside of the lid or cover whereby, when the lid or cover is raised, the knives will also be raised and be presented in the manner of a display. However, because of the-variety in the sizes and shapes of knives, I do not know of any chest or case whose lid or cover is adapted to support and carry all of the various different kinds of knives.

The object of the present invention is so to construct a silverware chest or case that the lid thereof is adapted to hold and display any or all of the various different types of knives to which I have referred, and permit them to be easily placed in position or removed.

In carrying out my invention, I provide the lid of the chest or case with a row of pockets extending across the inner side thereof near the hinged edge to receive the knife handles. I also place on the lid, toward the edge opposite the hinged edge, means to engage the knife blades; such means being so constructed and so located that the blades may he slipped through the same far enough to permit the handles to be entered into the pockets. The pocket devices may be of either of two types depending upon the type.

of lid. If the lid has no flange or li along the edge, the pockets may be simp e deep sockets open at that end which is the top when the lid is upright, as long as the disstance between the pockets and the bladeengaging means is at least as great as the len th of the longest knife handle that is to e housed. However, when the lid has an edge flange or lip adapted to telescope into or over the upper art of the body of the chest or case, such Eange or lip will be in the way of theknife blades if they are pushed far through the blade-holding means. In other words, it may not be possible to push the blades far enough through the bladeholding means to permit the butt ends of the handles to be brought into registration with the open ends of the pockets; and, consequently, one side of each of the pockets must be made movable so that an knife which is not longer than the width 0 the lid may enter a pocket through a side of the latter instead of through the open end.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter he pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective View of a chest or case, with the lid shown open, embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a section, on a larger scale, taken on line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 2, only a fragment of the lid being shown; Fig. 4

is a section on line 44 of Fig. 2, showing a fragment of the lid; and Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing a modification.

Referring to Figs. 1-4 of the drawing, 1 represents a chest or case having a hinged lid 2; the lid having an ed e flange 3 adapted to fit around the upward y-projecting ledge 4 on the side and end walls of the body of the chest or case. On the inner side of the lid, near and parallel with the hinged edge, is a row of deep pockets, preferably uniform in size and each large enough to receive a large knife handle. These pockets are open on the ends that are the upper ends when the lid is raised, and they are closed at the opposite end and on all sides. What may be termed the outer side of each pocket 1s made movable so that a knife handle may be entered into a pocket laterally instead of through the open end. In theparticular arrangement shown, the pockets are produced by attaching to the lid a long panel 5 having a shelf-like portion 6 projecting outwardly therefrom at what may be termed its lower edge. End walls 7 and partitions 8 extend at right angles from the panel 5 to the outer edge of the shelf 6, the height of these walls and partitions being e ual to the distance from the top of the she f to the top of the panel. Connected to the long, free edge of the shelf by a hinge 9 is a ate 10. The hinge axis for the gate is placed in about the plane of the bottom face of the shelf so that, when the gate is swung down into the position indicated in dotted lines in Fi 2, it lies below the plane of the top face 0 the shelf or, in other words, below the plane of the bottom of the pockets. The gate is preferably of about the same Width as the panel so that, when it is swung up, it forms an outer side wall for each pocket of the same height or depth as the corresponding inner side wall. The gate may be held raised or in its closed position by a suitable catch 11, shown as consisting of a strip of spring metal fastened to the upper edge of the panel 5 and extending forwardly across the top of the gate when the gate is closed; the outer end of the strip being bent down to form a hook 12.

On the lid, between the pockets and the edge of the lid opposite the hinged edge, are means to engage the blades of knives whose handles rest in the pockets. In the arrangement shown, the blade-holding means consist simply of a ledge or bar 14 secured to the lid parallel with and at a considerable distance rom the row of pockets. This ledge or bar is provided with a series of slits or slots 15 extending through the same in a plane parallel with the lid; there being one of these slits or slots in line with each ocket. In order to facilitate the entry 0 a knife blade into any one of the slots, from below, I provide a blade guide in the form of a thin, narrow strip 16 lying against the lid below the ledge. This strip may be simply a lip rojecting from and forming) part of the le ge. In any event, what may e termed the base of the lip or strip has a thickness equal to the distance between the slots 15 and the lid proper; the thickness of the lip or strip decreasing gradually from the body ortion of the ledge toward the long, free e ge of the strip. In other words, the member 16 forms an inclined way that will guide into the slots a knife blade whose end is laid upon this member and is then pushed along the same toward the ledge.

When knives are to be housed in the chest, the handles will sit in the pockets while the blades extend through and are held by the slotted ledge. A short knife may perhaps be placed in osition or removed by pushing the blade ar enough through the ledge to permit the end of the handle to clear the tops of the pockets. However, in the case of ordinary knives, the flange at the long, free edge of the lid would prevent the blade from being pushed far enough through the blade holder to permit the handle to enter or leave a pocket through the open end of the latter. It is for this reason that I provide the gate, so that it may be swung down and permit the handles to enter or be removed from the pockets by lateral instead of endwise movements. With this arrangement,

the pockets may be made deep enough to prevent comparatively short knives from dropping out as the lid is opened and closed, without interfering with the handling of long knives.

In the drawing I have shown three different kinds of knives, indicated at A, B and G, to illustrate the use of my invention. It should be noted that the knife A has a short blade. Therefore, the pockets must have a depth slightly greater than the distance between the free end of the blade of this knife and the flange at the long, free edge of the cover, so that the blade will strike the flange before the handle can clear the top edge of the gate and thus become separated from the pocket. Also, it will be seen that the ledge 14 must be spaced far enough from the pockets to clear the blade ends of the handles when the knives are in the pockets.

When the lid has no flange or lip, the walls formed by the gate 10 need not be movable. Thus, in Fig. 5, I have shown a chest or case 20 having a lid 21 which is without inwardlyprojecting flanges. Consequently, a knife blade may he slipped up through the ledge 14 until the ledge strikes the handle. Therefore, as lon as the ledge is spaced apart from the poo ets a distance equal to the long est knife handle, the handles may be inserted and removed, through the open ends of the pockets. However, in a construction of this kind it is possible to hold the chest or case in such a position that the handles will slip out of the pockets, whereas, in the other form of my invention, the pockets may be so deep that the knives cannot be removed without opening the gate. In any event, the pockets in Fig. 5 may be substantially the same as those previously described; the panel or bar 5 withits end walls and cross partitions be- 1 ing simply turned around so that thelong edges of the end walls and partitions engage with the lid which thus forms the inner sides of the pockets, while the panel proper is spaced apart from the lid and forms the outer walls of the pockets.

The inside of the lid is preferably lined with felt or other soft fabric as are also the pockets, the blade-receiving slots and all other. parts that come in contact with the knives. In the drawing, the felt, which may carry an anti-tarnish compound, is indicated at F.

It will thus be seen that I have produced a simple and novel means for effectively holding knives of various different kinds upon the cover of a silverware chest or case, without using knife-engaging clips or any devices adapted to one type of knife only. It will also be seen that, by constructing the handle and blade-holding devices as shown, any chest or case may be equipped in accordance with my invention by simply attaching the pocket and ledge members to the lid thereof.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, with a slight modification, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a case for silverware, including a hinged lid, adapted to house knives of different lengths, of a row of deep pockets for the knife handles extending along the inner side of the lid near the hinged edge and open only on the end that is at the top when the lid is upright, and a ledge extend ing across the lid parallel with said row of pockets, between the pockets and the edge of the lid opposite the hinged edge, said ledge having blade-receiving slits through the same, there being a slit directly opposite each pocket, the distance of the ledge from the row of pockets being such that the blades of short as well as long knives having their handles in the pockets will be received by the said slits, and the depth of the pockets being such that the ends of the short knives will strike against a part of the case before clearing the pockets when the knives are moved lengthwise to withdraw them from the pockets while the lid is closed.

2. The combination with a case for silverware, including a hinged lid, adapted to house knives of different lengths, of a row of deep pockets for the knife handles extending along the inner side of the lid near the hinged edge and open only on the end that is at the top when the lid is upright, the outer wall of each pocket being movable to permit the pocket to be opened at that side and the knife handle to be entered or removed by a lateral movement, and a ledge extending across the lid' parallel with said row of pockets, between the pockets and the edge of the lid opposite the hinged edge, said ledge having blade-receiving slits through the same, there being a slit directly opposite each pocket, the distance of the ledge from the row of pockets being such that the blades of short as well as long knives having their handles in the pockets will be received by the said slits, and the depth of the pockets being such that the ends of the short knives will strike against a part of the case before clearing the pockets when the knives are moved lengthwise to withdraw them from the pockets while the lid is closed.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification.

JENE L. NAKEN. 

